Light in the Darkness
by Padfoot
Summary: Umm... this is really strange. It's my first fic, and it should be relativeley okay once the story gets going. The first part is not neccasary to the plot, but it's pretty much worth reading.
1. Default Chapter Title

**LIGHT IN THE DARKNESS: PROLOUGE**  


  
  
  
"Black, Sirius."  
"GRYFFINDOR!"  
  
"Bones, Brittany."  
"HUFFLEPUFF!"  
  
"Bones, Brandon."  
"GRYFFINDOR!"  
  
"Chang, Layla."  
"RAVENCLAW!"  
  
"Edwards, Adam."  
"SLYTHERIN!"  
  
"Grant, Genevieve."  
"SLYTHERIN!"  
  
"Jackson, Lily."  
"SLYTHERIN!"  
  
"Lockhart, Gilderoy."  
"HUFFLEPUFF!"  
  
"Lupin, Remus."  
"GRYFFINDOR!"  
  
"Marty, Louis."  
"HUFFLEPUFF!"  
  
"Malkin, Mortricia."  
"RAVENCLAW!"  
  
"Ottoman, Perena."  
"HUFFLEPUFF!"  
  
"Parks, Will."  
"RAVENCLAW!"  
  
"Pettigrew, Peter."  
"err---GRYFFINDOR."  
  
"Potter, James."  
"GRYFFINDOR!"  
  
"Ravenclaw, Richard."  
"RAVENCLAW."  
  
"Rawlings, Kari."  
"GRYFFINDOR!"  
  
"Snape, Severus."  
"SLYTHERIN."  
  
"Thompson, Trisha."  
"HUFFLEPUFF!"  
  
(There are 12 people I didn't mention, but they won't really come into play. My name making cells are overloaded)  
  
(I just thought up a good name for Lily. Who knows what her maiden name is?)  
  
(Take extra care in remembering Kari Rawlings. Her name is Car-ee, like in Digimon.)  
  
(If you don't know, Kari means Light)  
  
(I like these little notes.)  
  
(Welcome to Padfoot's First story.)  
  
(If you noticed my pic in the author's section, I had a friend draw it for me.)  
  
(pant pant. I'm tired. I've been typing all morning.)  
  
(I'm gonna get a better chair.)  
  
(Ahhh… that's better… much better!)  
  
(What should I name this story.)  
  
Light in the Darkness: Prologue (this is what you're reading.)  
Light in the Darkness: LET THERE BE LIGHT! (This is the first actual story section)  
LID: Who knows? I haven't wrote it yet.  
  
(Just a note from PADFOOT!)  
  
PADFOOT!  



	2. Default Chapter Title

LET THERE BE LIGHT  
  
A/N I'm really not going to start this story off very well, but I won't leave you hanging. I'm terrible at starting stories, so this one will start on the train, going to everyone's first year at Hogwarts. Kari is our protagonist, at the moment, Lily and Sonny are antagonistic. What a novel idea! Lily Jackson-Potter, a little menace.  
  
Note to clarify characters: Sonny Malfoy is Lucius' younger brother. Kari is muggle-raised, half-blood. Genevieve or "Jana" is a full blood, mostly Ravenclaw blood. Fun… you'll like Sonny in the later stories, he gets a blow to the mind around book 2 or 3. It makes him much more amiable. It starts out with Kari and Jana already knowing each other from their first hour or so on the Hogwarts Express.  
  
And so we begin… LET THERE BE LIGHT!!!  
  
And there was Kari…  
  
"Jana, how do you get sorted into these 'houses?' " Kari asked, feeling impish by the amazing world she was barely toeing the line of.  
  
"A lot of people try to scare the first years saying we have to wrestle a troll or something, but it's really just a hat that looks into your mind and sees where you need to go."  
  
"That Lily girl said I'd be in Hufflepuff…"  
  
"They say Hufflepuff's for the little dorks, but you don't have the right personality. Probably Ravenclaw or Gryffindor."  
  
"Big help."  
  
"Sorry, Kari. I know it's all new to you. I'm no help at all." Jana winked and settled back in her seat, highly engrossed in a magazine about "The Snitches," who seemed to be a wizarding boy band.  
  
"What house were your parents in?" Kari asked, still wondering, as her dad didn't live to tell her about the world he had lived in.  
  
"Ravenclaw. Never anything else. It's a sure bet."  
  
"Oh—" but she was cut short because the door to their compartment flung open.  
  
"Hello to Queen Jana and her little imp."  
  
"Eat slugs, Sonny."  
  
"No thanks you, I prefer escargot." Sonny cocked his head, his smug smile beginning to get on Kari's nerves.  
  
He noticed Kari's face. She had made a slight grimace, as her palate was not partial to snails or slugs.  
  
"It's a figure of speech, muddy." Sonny sniggered, standing erect.  
  
"Sonny, lay OFF!"  
  
"Sticking up for Ms. Muddy?"  
  
"You bet your blood."  
  
"Well, this is no fun at all. I'll leave Queen Jana and her mudblood to their small talk." Jana growled, but Sonny spun on his heel and left, sauntered away.  
  
"Don't mind him." Jana said with an air of hatred, but Kari had no clue what a 'mudblood' was anyway.  
  
Around lunchtime a middle-aged witch rolled into their compartment with a cart of candy and sweets. As Kari's stomach had been rumbling, mostly from nerves, though; she hopped up to find something to ease her hunger.  
  
"Chocolate frogs?!" She couldn't help exclaiming as she picked up a foil wrapped frog.  
  
"They aren't real, but they have cards in them. They're new and my brother, Andy loves them. He got a gold-foil card last week." Jana explained as she purchased three frogs and stowed them in her trunk.  
  
"I guess I'll take a frog, and…err…a Sherbet Ball." Kari paid with a shiny new sickle her mum had gotten from the family vault at Gringotts when they went to get school supplies. Her mum had had a time figuring out all the places to go and how to get there.  
  
She bit into her frog and pulled out the card. A waving picture of a tall, smiling woman waved at her.  
  
"OH! I know her, that's Bolt!"  
  
"Bolt?"  
  
"She's on the run from the Ministry because of something or another. I heard it's uncertain whether or not she's guilty, but they've got a hard eye out for her."  
  
"Oh…" Kari was feeling overwhelmed as she nibbled half-heartedly on the frog's nose.  
  
About an hour and a half later, a boy with well-combed brown hair with a cowlick stumbled into their compartment.  
  
"You haven't seen a kitten around here, have you?" He panted, breathless she guessed, from the kitten-search.  
  
"Nope. Only a real mad tom cat!" Jana giggled and the boy shot her a look.  
  
"No." Kari said, "But who are you?" She had always had a problem with being to blunt. She always said what was on her mind.  
  
"Uh—I'm Remus Lupin. Or RJ, some people call me…" (he doesn't have his knick-name yet)  
  
"I'm Jana, and this is Kari." Kari smiled but waved her hand as an orange kitten streaked by.  
  
"Crookshanks! STOP!"  
  
Remus tore off down the corridor as the kitten escaped.  
  
"That was interesting."  
  
A new boy stopped at their door. "Hey, you two! Can either of you climb?"  
  
Kari, who happened to be the best female tree-climber at her elementary school, raised her hand.  
  
"Thanks, come on!"  
  
The boy had dark black hair and blue eyes, but they were a bit green as well. It was just a mix of green and blue. He wore round glasses that really made his smile stand out.  
  
"I'm James, and I guess you know Remus, and his kitten is up in that luggage rack."  
  
Kari looked up and Crookshanks let out a frightened mew.  
  
"On three?"  
  
"One."  
  
"Two."  
  
"Three!"  
  
And James boosted her up and she clamored onto the rack, crawling over and seizing the orange kitten. She handed him down the Remus and leapt down.  
  
"Thanks, Kari." Remus stroked his kitten and smiled. Remus and James wandered off.  
  
When they reached Hogwarts and got sorted into their houses: Kari, James, and Remus in Gryffindor and Sonny, Lily, and Jana (WHAT THE HE--?) in Slytherin.  
  
"THEY PUT ME IN SLYTHERIN! I'm a disgrace! What will mom say! It's like, like, YOU being put into Slytherin!" Jana ranted to Kari as they ate dinner, sharing one meal together before they were torn into different houses.  
  
"Hey, we'll still talk, right?" Kari asked as they departed from dinner.  
  
"Sure. We have Potions, and Defense together. And we can talk out on the lawn and stuff." Jana waved as she and a boy named Adam to the Slytherin commons, which seemed to be in the dungeons.  
  
James and Remus were walking to the Gryffindor tower as well, so she jogged to catch up with them.  
  
"Hey Kari! Thanks for rescuing Crookshanks, here." Remus smiled as he cuddled his orange fluff-ball.  
  
"Kari Rawlings saves the day! Call out the press!" James laughed as they reached the portrait.  
  
"How do we get in?" James asked a bored looking redhead sitting outside the portrait.  
  
"I'm Arthur Weasley, Gryffindor prefect and it is my duty to tell you the password is 'griffin' and the portrait will open."  
  
"Thanks." They said in unison as the portrait opened and they climbed inside.  
  
Their first view of the common room proved to be wonderful. Warm and cheery, many students milling around. The other badged-prefect walked up.  
  
She had a head-full of tight brown curls and was rather short.  
  
"I'm Molly and I'm here to tell you first years are on the third level up the staircase, boys to the right, girls left." She smiled and waved.  
  
"See-ya Kari." James smiled and Kari collapsed into an arm-chair.  
  
A strange, un-natural light appeared before her. She blinked and a blurry sight of a person swam into view. She cocked her head, but couldn't focus.  
  
"Hello…?" She said, finally her vision cleared. A tall boy, brown eyes, black hair was standing over her chair, waving a flashlight.  
  
"Welcome to the world. It's midnight and you're still here. I'm here to make you go away."  
  
"Why?" She said, standing up and brushing her self off instinctively.  
  
"Because the biggest ruffian to hit Hogwarts since… whoever… is in the house."  
  
"And so?"  
  
"He wants to be mischievous."  
  
"In that case, I'll leave."  
  
"I say, goodbye, fair lady. And sleep tight, and a toast to the bedbugs."  
  
"I'm guessing you're a night person?"  
  
"A wink short of nocturnal, fair maid."  
  
"Yah okay."  
  
Kari woke up that morning to the sound of breaking glass.  
  
"Oh no, my mirror shattered!" Came a high-pitched voice from the far bed.  
  
Kari rubbed her eyes and stood up, realizing she hadn't put her nightgown on. (No, she's not naked, she's wearing robes.)  
  
"Hello. I guess we should get to know each other, with seven years staring at us." Kari mumbled, pulling her shoulder-length blonde tangle into a ponytail.  
  
"I'm Marina. Marina McDougal." She had mahogany hair and piercing green eyes. Kari had the feeling Marina's hair was either dyed or charmed.  
  
"I'm Kari, but what shattered?"  
  
"My perfume and my favorite mirror. I think it was Pete's latest creation. Ehh…Pete's is a muggle friend of mine, he's a welder." She explained, waving her wand to get rid of the shards of mirror.  
  
Kari's mind had drifted to last night in the common room. Who had that been?  
  
At breakfast she sat with James and Remus, but she was watching Marina and her two minions, Crissy and Jenny. Kari had always had a thing about people with double letters and a 'y' ending their name. One of those silly things… They both were like slightly dumbed-down clones of Marina. She had a feeling they would not be much in the friendship department.  
  
A boy sat down next to her, smiling and already deep in conversation with Remus and James. He was that boy from the common room last night. He laughed, smiling like a jackal and stuffed a bite of flapjack in to his mouth.  
  
"Awfully quiet, fair maiden, have you lost some sleep yonder night?" He laughed again, and again ate some flapjack.  
  
"Humm…" She mumbled, nibbling her bacon. It was an act. He was a very flamboyant person. Loud and bubbly, someone who could light up a room with his smile.  
  
"Sir Sirius here seems to have discovered someone snoozing unlawfully in the commons last night." Remus laughed and 'Sir Sirius' beamed.  
  
"I sent to ruffian home with a good lecture, she shall be more careful next night, or the punishment will be harsher."  
  
"Oh no, Sirius might actually take her to the beds. What torture!"  
  
James was chuckling and trying to eat his eggs. "Don't mind him, Kari, he's a silly."  
  
Kari laughed back but felt very quiet next to Sirius. But she didn't have time to dwell on them because Jana had come to say hello.  
  
"Hark! An evil Slytherin approaches! I'll protect you maiden!" Sirius laughed as Jana plopped down next to Kari. Sirius, James, and Remus walked off, Remus mumbling something about "Charms" and left Jana and Kari to talk.  
  
"So, met anybody nice?"  
  
"Not really. Had a run-in with Mr. Noble here, and Marina and her clones aren't worth talking to." Kari said suddenly, happy to get it out. Marina brushed her the wrong way.  
  
"Ah well, sometimes guys can be good friends, but what's with that tall guy? He's cute!"  
  
"You think so?" Kari said, diverting her eyes from Sirius' retreating form.  
  
"Nice hips, and that hair!" Jana giggled. "Well enough about him. I've got the two biggest brats in the school in my house. Sonny Malfoy and Lily Jackson. Ugh… The nerve of those two!"  
  
Kari was half listening. But she snapped out of her trance and she and Jana ran to get their books for Kari's Charms class, and Jana's Transfiguration class.  
  
"Now, since this is our very first class, I would like you too all get out your wands only for class and find someone you'd like to sit with." Their Professor called as they filed into the classroom.  
  
"I am Professor Flitwick and I am a three-time Wizard's Bowl Charm-Off Champion."  
  
A few people chuckled as the hurried around. Kari avoided Marina and Company and was joined at her desk by Brittany Bones, a Hufflepuff with a twin brother in Gryffindor. Brittany was average height, with dark black hair and a pretty complexion. Brittany had braces, but she had an excellent taste in clothes, Kari noticed as Brittany chatted about how nervous she was.  
  
"Now, class, please take out your wands and we will practice the Vibrate Charm today. It won't be very useful, but will be a nice way to get started in Charms. It basically makes whatever object it's used on quiver. Got it? The words are "tribatus radicus." Kari fingered her wand and Brittany set up a small pebble that they would use the charm on.  
  
"TRIBATUS RADICUS!" Kari bellowed, as people around the room started their assignment. A scattered few of the pebbles were quivering five minutes later. Kari had succeeded after three tries and Brittany was hopeless. Her wand fizzled and popped and after a few moments, Kari was vibrating. Professor Flitwick cried 'STOP!' and jumped in to end the charm.  
  
"FINATE ENCHANTIUM!"  
  
The faint of a half-dozen pebbles falling from their spells was heard as Kari's head stopped spinning. Sirius Black and James Potter were laughing good-naturedly.  
  
"Mr. Black, as you find this so funny I will ask you to escort Ms. Rawlings to the hospital wing for a dose of Poppy's spell-go-wrong tonic."  
  
Sirius bowed and held out a hand, daintily escorting her out of the Charms room. Feeling dizzy, Kari wobbled and Sirius grabbed her shoulder before she nearly toppled over.  
  
"Tha..anks…" She managed before ducking into the girl's bathroom and puking her breakfast out. She choked for a moment and Sirius raced in after her.  
  
"Are you okay?" He banged her on the back and she gasped, sitting down.  
  
"I have severe motion sickness." She babbled as she drank some water from the fountain and continued on with Sirius down the corridor.  
  
They left the hospital wing, Kari feeling better, but cringing from the bitter taste of Madam Pomfrey's Spell-Go-Wrong tonic, which tasted like vinegar. Charms was over, and they had about an hour before Potions.  
  
Potions was a disaster. Their Professor was quite strict, Sonny Malfoy called her a wimp for throwing up, and Peter Pettigrew, a friend of James' got 10 points off for spilling his simple Pimple Potion.  
  
Sonny and Lily sauntered by, sniggering, as Jana rushed over to talk to Kari.  
  
"What happened in Charms?" Jana asked, balancing her textbooks.  
  
"That ditz Brittany Bones messed up her Vibrating Charm and got me instead of the rock. I have real bad motion sickness and it made me sick." Kari explained as they walked to the library to finish their essay from Potions, entitled 'Why Potions Are Not To Be Used For Mischief," which was probably to warn them not to use them on their foes.  
  
Remus Lupin was wandering down the corridor, mumbling something about loosing his kitten and James was searching as well, asking all passerbies if they had seen the furball.  
  
Over the next few weeks, they had fun times in Charms, torture in Potions, useful but boring information in Transfiguration, an enjoyable time in Defense Against the Dark Arts, and lots of fun during the warm evenings in the common room.  
  
Kari and Jana talked a ton, and she spent down time in the common room with James, Remus, and Sirius, and when totally desperate, talked to Marina and Peter. Sonny and Lily remained snotty, and classes ticked by. As Christmas approached, Kari had noticed something.  
  
She usually stayed up in the common room, reading a book or studying, but Sirius, James, Peter, and Remus crept out a lot. They would return with spare desserts and good humor. Once she caught them, but the paid her off with a brownie and after Sirius's reprimands, carried to her bed. Kari was glad they hadn't woken Marina and Company up. Noisy hooligans! (;  
  
Oh, and Crookshanks returned, and Sirius's sister sent him a toad for his birthday, November 17th. Sirius was a bit disdainful and hid the toad underneath his bed.  
  
Everyone went home for Christmas, and Kari got a purple jacket, some Chocolate Frogs (which she really liked!), Jana sent her a magazine subscription, James sent package of Ice Mice, and Sirius had the nerve to send her a ball of rubber bands.  
  
When they returned to Hogwarts a few days after Christmas, snow blanketed the grounds and the gamekeeper, Hagrid, wore garbage-can-lid-sized snow shoes as he tromped around, pruning the furs.  
  
Her first day back she found a small package lying on her bed, probably from Christmas. On a piece of velvet where a pair of small silver earrings. They were the shape of dragons, spewing fire.  
  
Marina, of course, hadn't sent them, James, Jana, Sirius, and Remus (a card, several days late) had sent her gifts, and no one else would really have sent her anything. She sat wandering about it as the trio of rambunctious boys strode over.  
  
"Happy New Year!" Sirius beamed and plopped a cone-shaped princess hat with a small veil billowing from it on her head. She gave him a crooked smile and turned to see James in a paper crown, Sirius wearing a brown cap, and Remus in a muggle-version of a witch's hat. They tossed a handful of confetti and continued onto torture the others. (I have, at this moment, established all my goals for this story, and need a good end. I even got a lot of silly Sirius-ness. How sirius of me. This is of course, a very sirius story. Pun intended)  
  
January brought several icy snowstorms and the start of a new class, Beginner's Broommanship. As the class tromped out to the Quidditch pitch bundled in jackets, mittens, knit caps, and boots, they were joined by the Ravenclaw first years.  
  
"Awful pity. Too bad our teacher fell off at the World Cup, they enlisted an amateur."  
  
"It would have been nice to have a Quidditch World Cup winner to teach us!"  
  
"What's a Quidditch?" Kari asked the girl, who was only a few inches taller than Kari, with raven black hair and olive-complexion.  
  
The girl laughed and turned to Kari. "Quidditch is our sport, go ask Sir Noble over there, they can put it in a nutshell. By the way, name's Layla."  
  
"Uh-huh." Kari said, but was not eager to go strike up a conversation with Sirius and James right now. She had a sinking feeling that brooms would be hard to master.  
  
"Alright class! Settle down! I'm am Madam Hooch—" Sirius and James burst out laughing. "I am Madam Hooch and I will be teaching you to fly on brooms. Everyone grab a broom!"  
  
Kari scooped up a rather ratty 'Silver Arrow' with a bent tail and laid it down in front of her. The rest of the class grabbed what they could find and laid them down, too.  
  
"Now on the count of three, everyone say up and your broom should jump into your hand!"  
  
"One, two, three!"  
  
"UP!" The class bellowed. James' broom had leapt at once to it's owner's hand, Marina's had shot off away from them, Sirius' had rolled over, and Kari's was hovering about a foot off the ground. Remus wasn't there today. He sure was missing a lot.  
  
They tried again and Kari thought she saw Brittany pick her broom up behind the enormous Will Parks of Ravenclaw. Layla was leaning on her broom, which hovered exactly where she wanted it.  
  
"Now, everyone mount your brooms and on the count of three we'll push off and fly a few feet of the ground, than land."  
  
"One, two, three."  
  
Kari was rocked backward as her broom took off, and she landed on top of James, who fell back onto Sirius.  
  
"Ahhh!" They yelled as they landed.  
  
Layla swooped over them and Will's broom didn't budge. Marina was sitting daintily on her broom, picking a broken nail. Brandon Bones was flying steadily above the ground and Madam Hooch was yelling at Sirius and James for some reason.  
  
"YOU DO NOT HOLD ONTO SOMEONE'S BROOM AS THEY ARE TAKING OFF!" She shouted at Sirius who was holding a few broom-tail twigs.  
  
Marina looked up and promptly toppled off her broom.  
  
"My NAIL!" She screeched as she sprang back up. "It's BROKEN!" She began to whimper inconsolably, and Crissy tried to give her a hug but Marina slapped her.  
  
After the terrible Broommanship class, they all tromped back up to the common room for a break. Marina could still be heard whimpering as Jenny tried to mend the nail.  
  
Later that night, Kari watched from her chair as Sirius and James snuck out.  
  
"Where are you two going?" Kari asked.  
  
They stood bolt upright.  
  
"Us?" James started.  
  
"The fair maiden has asked a question. Where WERE we going?"  
  
"Not sure."  
  
"The kitchens?"  
  
"The library?"  
  
Kari listened to them try to make up an excuse, but finally cut in.  
  
"I don't care where you are going, but I want to go."  
  
Sirius looked staggered. James smiled. "Sure. Just headed to the Quidditch pitch."  
  
"I still don't know what Quidditch is."  
  
If it was possible for Sirius to look more shocked, he was. Kari giggled and they climbed out the portrait hole. They stopped at the broom shed, and Sirius pulled a hairpin out of Kari's braid.  
  
"What the?" She started, but with a few twists, the lock clicked open.  
  
Sirius carefully pinned it back in her hair. James grabbed one of the school brooms from the shed and leaving the door closed, but unlocked, mounted the broom. Sirius was holding two more, and the three of them mounted and flew up to the flagpole.  
  
Sirius dug in his robes, finally pulling out a pair of pink and purple boxer shorts.  
  
"Who's are those?!" Kari exclaimed, perched on the top row of Quidditch seats.  
  
"Our dear friend, Severus Snape. An ally of mine was so kind as to nick them for me. A jolly good chap."  
  
Kari stifled a choke of laughter and she and James tied them next to the Hogwarts flag on the pole. It fluttered in the night breeze and they swooped back to the broomshed.  
  
"Mischief managed my crazy cohorts." Sirius smiled as they departed from the common room.  
  
Kari collapsed on her bed, but was so startled she let out a stifled screech. Trouble was, someone was already there.  
  
"Kari!" Came Marina's shrill voice. "Where have you been?!"  
  
"Why would you care?" Kari said before she caught herself.  
  
"I thought those two creeps might have carried you off or something."  
  
"A repeat, why would you care?"  
  
"Bad things can happen with people like them." Marina said, narrowing her dark eyes.  
  
"I'll be careful."  
  
Kari fell asleep wondering about what Marina had said. And WHY DID Marina give a rip where she had been?  
  
Several weeks later, Marina came trouncing into the common room, holding an ornately shaped note for Kari.  
  
"Umm… thanks." She stuttered.  
  
"Oh my." Sirius said watching them, "She's a girl!" Kari knew he was kidding, but compared to Marina's girly ways, she was a bit of a tomboy, and hanging out with those two didn't help much.  
  
She unfolded it with Sirius looking over his shoulder. She swatted at him and he switched shoulders.  
  
"Dear Kari,  
  
We are having a pajama party tonight. Please stay up. We'll start around 9. Don't bring your two creeps. Girls only. Bring pillows!  
  
Signed,  
Marina, Jenny, and Crissy."  
  
Sirius whistled and walked away smiling like his birthday.  
  
Kari waved to Marina. A night with them wouldn't be so bad. Maybe she could figure out the thing about Marina not liking her midnight escapades with Sirius and James.  
  
Remus had of course returned, but once again he had abruptly left, leaving little to no explanation.  
  
Kari changed into her pastel, broom-print pajamas and did her hair in a quick ponytail before straightening her bed and working on her homework from Transfiguration. Professor McGonagall was in her first year of teaching and was really nice of you didn't get on her nerves.  
  
"Hey Kari! Party's about to start!" Crissy screeched. Crissy had become a bit more original since the incident when Marina slapped her, but Jenny remained as clone-like as ever.  
  
They spent the first hour or so talking and finally Marina brought up something interesting. "So, Kari, why do you hang around those two guys?"  
  
"They're my friends." Kari shrugged. She didn't really know.  
  
"Puts you in a great position if you ever need a date." Crissy said, munching her bowl of popcorn.  
  
"Sirius has great hips." Marina said, but Kari had heard that before. It now struck her. Marina liked one of them. That's why she got so bugged about Kari.  
  
"Kari," Jenny said. "So you like either of them?"  
  
"Not like that. They're just my friends."  
  
"Will ya' set me up with James?" Jenny asked, a pleading expression on her face.  
  
Kari's eyes widened. "I don't know, isn't this a little fast?"  
  
"Nah. My cousin got married after only knowing the guy for three days. Been married five years going!" Marina quipped.  
  
The night was incredibly boring for Kari. She finally fell asleep while Crissy ranted about how the 2nd year boy she had her eyes on refused to talk to her.  
  
Exams. Even the word is scary. Kari, Marina, Crissy, Jenny, Sirius, James, Remus, Peter, Brandon, and a really quiet girl named Amy—the whole first year class for Gryffindor—stayed up for hours studying in a noisy group.  
  
"What was that levitation spell again?" Remus groaned. Crookshanks used the little cat's room on Crissy's purse.  
  
"You evil little furball!" She screeched as James heroically zapped the mess away.  
  
"Wingardium Leviosa!" Someone put in and they went back to their chapter on magical human-like beings.  
  
"Vampires have pointed teeth and pale skin. Most are blond, but can have dark black hair." James read. Kari had a mental image of Sonny Malfoy.  
  
"Banshees have long hair and wear green. They have big mouths." Peter read, laughing.  
  
"Hags are just really ugly witches." Jenny put in with horror.  
  
"Warlocks and wizards. What's the difference?" Sirius asked bashfully.  
  
"Umm… a warlock is… like Dumbledore, really old!"  
  
"A wizard is young. With a full head of hair." Marina added. Sirius instinctively pulled his fingers through his hair.  
  
Most of them fell asleep at the table. Kari was woken up from being carried to her room by Sirius.  
  
"How sweet of you." Kari muttered as she drifted back to sleep.  
  
She woke up the next morning in time for breakfast and skipped down.  
  
Exams were tough. Her mouse didn't turn into a snuffbox completely, it had whiskers and a tail, and walked along her desk in little bolts.  
  
"Um… Professor?" She asked at the end of class.  
  
"Yes, Kari?" McGonagall looked up.  
  
"Can I keep my mouse…err… snuffbox?"  
  
"Why?"  
  
"I think it's cute." McGonagall laughed and fished her snuffbox mouse out and handed it to her.  
  
She was cuddling the snuffbox-mouse when Sirius climbed out the portrait hole.  
  
"What is that?!" He said, scooping up her mouse.  
  
"It's supposed to be a snuffbox."  
  
"That's cute. You gonna keep it?"  
  
"Yah."  
  
Sirius wandered off and Kari put the snuffbox mouse in her trunk.  
  
She felt like going outside, so before her next exam she grabbed some lunch and sprinted for the lake.  
  
"KARI!"  
  
"Hey Jana!" She smiled and they chattered about exams and what had been happening. They barely had time to get to their next class when two uninvited people showed up.  
  
"Queen Jana! Your loyal mudblood has returned!"  
  
"Go jump in the lake."  
  
"Oh, what an idea." Sonny smiled maliciously and walked up to Kari and Jana, not a foot away. "Have a nice swim." He muttered before giving them both a big push.  
  
…,,~.*~.*~.!SPLASH!.~*.~*.~,,…  
  
Kari and Jana landed in the murky water, robes soaked and hair dripping.  
  
Sonny and Lily doubled over in laughing and tore off for their next class.  
  
Jana and Kari clamored out of the lake, dripping wet and with no time to go change.  
  
"Girls! What happened to you two?" Professor Argon asked as the arrived, dripping and soaked to the skin. Jana's mascara was running and Kari's blush had streaked.  
  
"Sonny and Lily." Jana announced with a snarl to the two sniggering Slytherins in the back row.  
  
"What?" He waved his wand they were dry, but Jana still looked drowned.  
  
"Umm…Professor…" Jana whispered something in his ear and he waved his wand again and their makeup returned to normal.  
  
"For your exam I would like you all to make a Confusing Concoction and try it on one of the frogs in the back. If it succeeds they will be unable to move."  
  
Jana and Kari set to work making their potion, adding lacewings and bat wings, and pickled newt's eye. For the finishing touch, they ladled out a jarful and Jana picked up a large green frog. Kari slipped a spoonful into the Frog's mouth and it seemed to go rigid. She set it down and it didn't hop anywhere, unlike the other frogs.  
  
"Good girls! Full marks and 5 points for your quickness."  
  
Jana and Kari beamed as Professor Argon dismissed them.  
  
None of their exams were quite as successful as Potions. But they did well and finally escaped to the serenity of the lake. They were cautious not to get too close, but watched the squid swim around.  
  
"It's hard to believe this year's over." Jana said, fiddling with her hair.  
  
"Yah. I'm glad. But I'll miss everyone."  
  
"You gonna go anywhere? Visit anyone?"  
  
"My birthday's in August, so I was going to try and invite everyone over. Maybe spend the night, since some will have to come so far."  
  
"Yah, that'd be cool." Jana smiled. "What to get you?"  
  
"Chocolate frogs!" Kari joked, she now had an almost complete collection of Frog cards. She was missing Ptolemy.  
  
James, Sirius, and Remus came barging out the doors, smiling like they had just won the House Cup—which they had by the way.  
  
"When's the party?" Sirius blurted as he walked up.  
  
"In August. I'll owl you."  
  
"You don't have an owl." Jana interjected.  
  
"Not for long!"   
  
"Oh. Whatever." Remus said, and smiled.  
  
"So see y'all before then?"  
  
"Hopefully."  
  
And Professor McGonagall barged out on the lawn to tell them they had to leave for Hogsmeade Station.  
  
"Aww…come on Minnie!" Sirius said as she charged him at wandpoint to the carriage station.  
  
When the train pulled into King's Cross Station two hours later, the five of them said their final good byes.  
  
"Good bye Sir Sirius the Silly."  
  
Sirius bowed and kissed her hand.  
  
"And to you fair Kari of Gryffindor." They laughed and left, waving goodbye to their friends.  
  
END OF YEAR ONE!!!!!!! YAHOO!!!!  
  
Padfoot is in the house!  
  
Do you really want an author's note?  
  
Ugh, this is gonna be fun. I hate disclaimers. Think anyone will mind?  
  
I own Kari Rawlings, Marina and Company, Sonny Malfoy, and all the other little peoples that aren't in the books. Professor Argon, Will Parks, Layla Chang, Genevieve/Jana Grant, and anyone I didn't mention yet—And Brittany! JKR and Company owns Sirius, James, Remus, Lily, and Snape. Plus anyone I forgot to disclaim. That's a cool verb. Disclaim. Ah well. Bye y'all.  
  
_PADFOOT_ the Wanderer  



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